Compared are the Theatrical Cut (German DVD),released by Splendid, and the Korean DVD, released by KD Media.

The marriage of the King Of Goryeo and the Princess Of Yuan is supposed to join the two kingdoms, but in fact Yuan rules the smaller Goryeo.
The King Of Goryeo has a very deep relationship with the Captain of his guard. As a matter of fact it's deeper than the relationship with his Queen, that's why there's no offspring. Due to his worries about a heir to the throne, the Emperor makes Lord Kyungwon a crown prince and wants more soldiers and more virgins as well.
To present a heir to Yuan, he decides that the Queen should get pregnant by having sex with sb. else. He chooses his beloved Captain Hong Lim. First he does it reluctantly, but then he falls in love with the Queen.

While the International release is based on the Theatrical Cut, in Korea a so-called Director's Edition was released. In this version some further plot scenes and a few sex and violence scenes are added. Most of the footage are nice extensions, but they're not necessary for the main plot. That makes one think that this footage was deleted to tighten the film for the theater.

The introducing text box of the Korean DVD is missing. Instead it's presented by a narrator in the German Version (TC), the image is black. The narrated text is in German.

TC (narrator):"Under Yuan's subjugation,the Goryeo King selected young boys and closely trained them to be his royal guards called the Kunryongwe. He allowed these boys to reside in the palace and always kept them within his reach."

KR (text field):"Under Yuan's subjugation,the Goryeo King selected young boys and closely trained them to be his royal guards called the Kunryongwe. He allowed these boys to reside in the palace and always kept them within his reach."

TC: 12,5 secKR: 16 sec

TC: 0:10:13KR: 0:10:38

Additional shot of the landscape during the picnic. Both versions zoom out of Hong Lim's face (Jo In-Seong) to the trip after his conversation with the Queen.

DE:2 sec

KR:7 sec

TC: 0:12:59KR: 0:13:35

One of the guards gets hit during the attempted assassination on the King.

1 sec

TC: 0:13:01KR: 0:13:38

Han-Baek (Im Joo-hwan) asks King Hong Lim if everything's alright before he gives the order to attack.

King: "You okay?"Hong Lim: "Yes, sir!"

3 sec

TC: 0:13:25KR: 0:14:05

Additional scene of a fighting guard.

1,5 sec

TC: 0:18:35KR: 0:19:30

The Emporer's message for the King is translated in the German Version (TC). In the Korean Version the messenger speaks Mogolian and his words are translated.

DE:

KR:

TC: 0:23:13KR: 0:24:19

The Korean Version shows the King (Joo Jin-mo) and Hong Lim making out for a longer period.

DE:2 sec

KR:5,5 sec

TC: 0:23:21KR: 0:24:31

Same here.

DE:2,5 sec

KR:9 sec

TC: 0:38:05KR: 0:39:58

In the TC, the King arrives immediately in Byuklan-do, the impressions of his trip are deleted.

7 sec

TC: 0:46:14KR: 0:48:34

Extended shot of Hong Lim walking the corridor when he leaves the Queen's rooms.
After that the ministers ring in the banquet. They and the others pray for a heir.

Minister: "We, all your subjects and your people pray for you having a prince who can succeed to the Royal line."All ministers: "Long live the King! We pray!"

19,5 sec

TC: 0:46:27KR: 0:49:06

Short scenes of the banquet are cut. The first one is a shot of the ministers at the end of the first dancing scenes.

1,5 sec

TC: 0:46:30KR: 0:49:11

A part of the dancing scene is missing after the shot of the Queen's brother.

1,5 sec

TC: 0:46:40KR: 0:49:22

Some details of the dancing scene are missing.

3 sec

TC: 0:47:01KR: 0:49:47

A shot of the musicans after Hong's peek at the Queen.

3 sec

TC: 0:47:06KR: 0:49:55

The King praises Tae-Ahn's art of dancing, his wife nods affirmatively.

King: "Tae-Ahn has become almost Goryeo people. He dances well."

13 sec

TC: 0:47:09KR: 0:50:11

Before the King asks the Queen (Song Ji-hyo) for the sachet, the beginning of the scene is slightly shortened. He looks at her and says: "Well...".

1,5 sec

TC: 0:47:43KR: 0:50:48

A comment about a designated heritage, which is also part of the conversation between the ministers, is missing.

Yeon Ki-mok: "But it's so quiet in palace."Lord Cho: "Because his Majesty's so concerned about heir."

That scene appears right after the conversation with the concubines.

13 sec

TC: 0:49:47KR: 0:53:10

Additional scene of the sexual intercourse of the Queen and Hong Lim.

4,5 sec

TC: 0:50:15KR: 0:53:43

A few more hits of the drummers while Kunryongwe's dancing.

TC: 0:50:33KR: 0:54:03

Kunryongwe's dance is extended: the first extension is a close-up of Seung-Ki and Han-Baek.

2,5 sec

TC: 0:50:42KR: 0:54:15

The second one shows the guard members' skills again.

3 sec

TC: 0:50:47KR: 0:54:22

At the end of Kunryongwe's presentation the drummers are shown again, then Hong Lim and the Queen. In the TC the drummers and the beginning of the scene with Hong Lim and the Queen are missing.

10 sec

TC: 0:51:02KR: 0:54:49

Tae-Ahn and minister KI Wong-Hong try to chink with the Emperor, but he denies.

Tae-Ahn: "I beg you for the first time. Please."King: "I don't want to ruin this enjoyable atmosphere."

11 sec

TC: 0:59:20KR: 1:03:37

The coitus between the Captain and the Queen is extended.

6 sec

TC: 0:59:33KR: 1:03:57

Slow tracking shot of the Queen's back.

4 sec

TC: 0:59:48KR: 1:04:16

Additional shot of them kissing each other.

2,5 sec

TC: 1:00:55KR: 1:05:29

The two again, this time from a different angle.

2,5 sec

TC: 1:01:18KR: 1:05:55

With the ending of the cohabitation the scenery changes to the palace. Seung-Ki (Shim Ji-ho) reports to the King, who has been waiting for Hong Lim.

Seung-Ki: "I heard that chief Hong went out at sunset."King: "Okay, leave."

The King wants Seung-Ki to leave the room. He doesn't even try to resist, so the King wants to know if he had sth. to say.

King: "Do you have something to say?"Seung-Ki: "Offer me a drink, Your Majesty."

19,5 sec

TC: 1:03:29KR: 1:08:31After the Queen's declaration of love, we're back with the King and Seung-Ki, who offers his "services" for the night.

Seung-Ki: "Your Majesty. Why do you only favor chief Hong? Am I not better than him?"King: "What are you talking about? I do favor you, too."Seung-Ki: "I want to serve your Majesty tonight. They say 'The King is the land.' Please allow me."King: "Leave."

40 sec

TC: 1:10:08KR: 1:16:06

In the TC, the King holds the scroll with the traitors' names immediately. The handing over by Lim is new.

Hong Lim: "The Lord Kyungwon's secret envoy had this."

11,5 sec

TC: 1:10:43KR: 1:16:54

The King orders Hong to kill the traitors during the banquet. Except the Queen's brother, he's supposed to get killed in his house. The TC shows the banquet immediately.

King: "I'll have a banquet in few days. And cut all of their heads there. But I'll not let Tae-Ahn die in the banquet because of the Queen. You're going to kill him in his house."

51,5 sec

TC: 1:11:44KR: 1:18:49

The musicans at the beginning of the banquet.

4 sec

TC: 1:12:00KR: 1:19:09

Yeon Ki-mok proposes that Lord Cho should say sth. positive about the war. But Cho thinks that minister KI ought to do that.

Yeon Ki-mok: "Lord CHO, how about telling his Majesty a good sentence? What a good day!"Lord Cho: "No, I think Minister KI should do that."KI Wong-Hong: "Okay."

16 sec

TC: 1:16:19KR: 1:23:55

Captain Hong reports Tae-Ahn's death to the King right after he passed away.

Seung-Ki wants to know what was going to happen with Hong-Lim, because he was ordered to kill everybody who knew about the heir's origin.

Seung-Ki: "Yes, Your Majesty. But, what about chief Hong?"

Then he enters the cell of the castrated Hong Lim. The King looks at his former Captain and starts talking.

King: "Now we're same. Who would find you, if I'm don't. I suggest a simple thing. Let's get back to the first place. If you come back, I'll give you everything. Even this country."

Complete length of the cuts: 65 sec

TC: 1:40:06KR: 1:51:20

A short dialog between Hong Lim and the people who free him.

Han-Baek: "Chief...Let's get out of here. Wear this."Hong Lim: "How did you come here?"Han-Baek: "The Queen told us."Hong Lim: "What?"Han-Baek: "We have to get out of here first. Hurry up."Hong Lim: "The Queen? What are you talking about?"Kunryongwe: "Please stand up.We don't have time."Hong Lim: "How's she? How is the Queen?"Han-Baek: "The Queen went out of palace."

35,5 sec

TC: 1:41:22KR: 1:53:14

Han-Baek excuses for lying to Hong concerning the Queen, both look at each other.

7 sec

TC: 1:41:48KR: 1:53:49

In the TC, the conversation ends with the Queen's saying that the King should kill her if he didn't believe her. In the Korean Version the conversation goes on.

King: "I can't let you die so easily. If you give a birth, I'll raise him as a son of whom did high treason. You should see that. Talk to me."Queen: "I don't know."King: "I'm sorry. I just want to hear from you."

The King leaves the garden and nods to Seung-Ki. He grabs Bo-Duk and wants to take her with. The King passes the corridor while some women are screaming in the background.

The heads of Hong's assistants and Bo-Duk again, together with the grieving Hong.

11,5 sec

TC: 1:46:07KR: 1:59:49

Viewers cheer the homecomings.

3 sec

TC: 1:46:10KR: 1:59:55

Additional shot of the homecomings.

2 sec

TC: 1:46:16KR: 2:00:02

Earlier shot of the soldiers marching the archway.

3,5 sec

TC: 1:47:29KR: 2:01:23

Similar to the first festivity, some dancing scenes are integrated in the ceremony for the homecomings. Plus the order of the scenes is different in both versions. Furthermore these scenes are placed between the scenes where the King leaves the banquet and, on his way to his rooms, where he's asked to remove the heads of the city wall and to reprieve Hong.

DE:83,5 sec

KR:115 sec

TC: 1:56:15KR: 2:10:58

A further shot of the ceremony before the guard gives the alarm.

6,5 sec

TC: 1:56:20KR: 2:11:10

One of the dancers turns around when the all present notice the drums.

1,5 sec

TC: 2:00:27KR: 2:15:28

Different image section of the shaky Hong Lim in both versions.

DE:6 sec

KR:6 sec

TC: 2:03:22KR: 2:18:31

Both versions end differently. The TC shows the palace and afterwards Liao Dong, where the King and Hong Lim are hunting together. The Korean Version shows their childhood before. They're on a hill, watching the palace. The King asks Hong if she wanted to live with forever.

Hong Lim: "The palace looks really great up here."King: "Really? Do you know where the court is?"Hong Lim: "The court is your home, right? Where is it?"King: "My home? My home is right there. What do you think?"Hong Lim: "It's great. I would love to live there."King: "Then how about living together in our entire life?"Hong Lim: "Yes, Sire!"

DE:3,5 sec

KR:38,5 sec

TC: 2:04:31KR: 2:20:17Fascinating bit of trivia:Due to the different endings, the last song starts and ends earlier in the Korean Version.
In the German Version the shot of the painting ends slightly earlier.